Adventures in Agriculture

NYC

New York City isn’t exactly a foreign country, but to many Americans it might as well be! It operates under its own set of rules and guidelines. People tend to love it or hate it. I’m firmly in the love camp.

One of the things I love about NYC is all the agriculture goings on. You wouldn’t think that a city would have a lot in the way of farming, but it does. There are farmers’ markets all over the city which strive to connect people with their food and the people who grow it. But more than that there are actual farms right in the city! Check out some of these very cool city gardens:

Also, there’s an entire documentary devoted to farming in NYC. It’s called Truck Farm. It’s from the same guys who did King Corn. I haven’t actually watched it yet, but when I do I’ll let you know how it is. Maybe I will sell my car, buy a truck and start a truck farm in Philly.

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2 thoughts on “NYC”

Good piece. I was impressed on a recent visit to NYC by the role played also by small allotment gardens, for example on the Lower East Side, and these made me realise how a network of gardens – even if they are floral rather than productive – are necessary for that other essential worker in New York’s urban farms: the humble bee. Beekeeping is now legal in the city (for a while only guns were legal, but bees were not) and today there is an increasingly well organised network of urban beekeepers. Farms, gardens, bees – gradually a sustainable bio-system is being created in this great city. Here’s one link about NYC beekeeping – a science article, though typical: the pop-up ads when I looked at the piece were for ANTS, ROACHES, INSECTS (Gasp!) PEST CONTROL – PHONE 0800 etc etc. http://www.livescience.com/38198-urban-beekeeping-takes-flight.html

I agree 100% on the value of floral gardens. They are great for bees and humans alike. There is something about daily contact with the natural world that does wonders for the human spirit. I went to Prospect Park almost every day when I lived in Brooklyn. And I love that bee keeping is on the rise in the city. Thanks for sharing the article. I hadn’t seen that one!